Lost in the Centuries
by The One And Only Charcoal
Summary: Still being rewritten. Posting the new first chapter. Leaving the old chapter up. Let me know if you think my style has improved. If not, then I may cry. Not really. Anyway, review, and I'll honestly try to get the next one up. :D
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Van Helsing nor any characters from it. The only character I claim as mine is Diana.

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The sound of footsteps on stone echoed through the courtyard. Two pairs of boots, one stepping lightly and was less relaxed which belonged to a young female, and the other undoubtedly male pair thudding loudly on the ground, made their way to a large church, the Vatican in Rome to be precise.

"Gabriel, I still don't see why _I_ had to come. I'm not even part of the Order, not that I could be part of it if I wanted to. They only tolerate me because I'm your sister, therefore I do not need to be involved." the young woman complained to her brother. "You are the only person ALIVE who respects me for who and what I am, so I don't see WHY I must put myself in the position to be insulted."

"Diana, you know _exactly_ why you had to come with me today. _You_ shattered the stained glass in Notre Dame and _you_ have to take responsibility for it. Cardinal Jinette will bite my head off if he thinks it was _me_. Plus, I've taken enough of the blame for your actions." responded Diana's sibling, who happened to be her twin, well, _fraternal_ twin. "Oh, and it's not like you give a crap about their insults anyway."

"So you would rather have Jinette bite _my _head off? That's _real_ nice. Also, it technically wasn't _me_ who shattered the glass in Notre Dame, it was _Hyde_. Plus, my _actions_ are usually done to save your butt."

"That may be, but who says that if you didn't get involved in my missions I would've died? Plus, the way you save my butt is by shattering priceless glass artwork in _churches_ and breaking ancient artifacts from palaces." Gabriel pointed out. "Well at _least_ you are alive, I mean, right now you could be a dirty pancake on the cobble stones in front of Notre Dame, or you could be a burnt up corpse at the base of a pyramid in Egypt. I think you have a lot to be thankful for, including me." she said smugly, knowing she had won the argument.

"Whatever, this doesn't change the fact that you are going to go in there and tell Jinette that _you_ broke the windows and that you are profusely sorry."

"I would sooner tell the son of the devil I love him" Diana said indignantly.

"Fine" Van Helsing said (I will only call Gabriel Van Helsing, so Van Helsing is Gabriel _only_), then he picked her up and walked inside of the church and dropped her.

"I am pretty sure that dropping a woman on the ground of a church, especially the Vatican, is some sort of sin." Diana said spitefully.

"I am pretty sure God will forgive me." he said jokingly.

"Yes, I am sure He will, but _I_ sure as hell won't" she replied angrily, glaring at him venomously. Gabriel didn't even bother returning the glare and shoved his sibling inside one of the confession booths and went in after her. After a few seconds, the cardinal entered expecting to see Gabriel alone, but was unpleasantly surprised to see the man's sister there as well. Though, it was hard to tell she was his sister. They looked nothing alike even though they were twins. He had hair the color of chocolate cut just above his shoulders with eyes a light honey brown while she had hair the color of a moonless night, which was glossy like a black lake, and green eyes that could pierce into your soul and see right through you. Both were tall, but she had a slim and shapely figure and he had a bulkier more muscular looking build, though they were both extremely strong and fit. Diana most certainly took after her goddess namesake in both appearance and personality.

Trying to keep his temper in check, Cardinal Jinette spoke. "Van Helsing, what is _she_ doing here?" Diana fought to keep hers in check as well before replying. "Hello Cardinal Jinette, so _nice_ to see you again." she said, hatred and sarcasm laced in every word.

Gabriel sensed the tension and decided to get his mission over and done with before attempting to defuse the bomb that was threatening to blow. "Well, Diana just wanted to tell you that…shewastheonewhoshatteredthestainedglasswindowsinNotreDame. Whoo, now that that's over with, let's go down to the lab and check out the stuff Carl has made." Van Helsing said, clearly attempting to avoid the subject, but the Cardinal wouldn't have it.

"She did **WHAT**?! Get this _abomination_ of nature out of this church immediately or so help me Gabriel, I will have her THROWN out!!!!!!" Jinette yelled, his face puffy and beet red from anger. "Hey!! If you want me out I'll leave but I've been man-handled enough for one day, thank you very much." Diana noted, before turning to leave. Before she could though, her brother grabbed her shoulder to keep her from leaving. "Come _on_ Diana, just apologize to the man. Please. For me?" Gabriel asked, his eyes pleading with her to relent. Irritated beyond belief, Diana reluctantly turned around, and muttered an apology to the cardinal, who in turn calmed down a bit. "Very well, Miss Diana, since I am a man of God, I accept your apology…" Cardinal Jinette bit out after a moment.

"Why thank you cardinal, I _absolutely_ do _not_ know how I would've survived if you hadn't." she said, expressing her annoyance and boredom through her tone of voice. Before Jinette could say anything about his sister's last obnoxious comment, he thought of a way to defuse the problem. "Cardinal, why don't you take us down to the lab and give me my next assignment? I'm sure Carl has some sort of a new contraption to show me as well." The Cardinal just nodded, sensing what Gabriel was doing. It worked somewhat. It kept the Cardinal from lunging at Diana, and that was all he asked for.

He pulled a lever, opening the inner walls of the booth into a cave with stairs descending down into what one could only suspect was the lab. The Knights of the Holy Order was no small brotherhood, and had many rich donors, most from very old families.

The small group began walking down the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, Jinette left to prepare his little 'presentation' he had created for the mission, leaving Gabriel and Diana Van Helsing to wander. After a grand total of five seconds, Carl, the only person Gabriel could call friend in the entire organization, and coincidentally the only other person who wasn't judgmental of the way his sister was, appeared and began to show off his prized creations.

"So, this is a modified crossbow. It allows you to shot silver crossbow bolts at incredible speed with out having to reload every time you shoot. It would definitely come in handy if you're attacked." Carl picked up the crossbow and handed it to Van Helsing after admiring it one last time. Gabriel just shoved it in his canvas sack full of weapons he'd be taking with him, causing Carl to flinch at how carelessly he treated his baby. By that time he had begun to look at other things that he might want to add to the sack as well. He spotted a beautiful sword and admired it, but just as he was about to add it to the pile, Carl, as he had a habit to, popped out of nowhere and grabbed it from him and put it back on the rack. "Any idiot can make a sword. You will not be needing one this mission." His comment attracted the attention of a rather burly blacksmith, who had been making swords, and Carl immediately dragged Van Helsing in another direction. Diana, who had been following them, smirked at how scared Carl could get at times. The man had just begun to scold her brother for getting distracted and picking up things he wouldn't need. It was a sight to behold because Gabriel was at least five inches taller and almost twice as wide as him.

After shoving various items to Gabriel to put in the sack such as silver stakes, cloves of garlic, blessed crucifixes, and holy water, Carl led the two siblings to another section of the lab. "I want to show you both something that we've recently come up with. It's still being tested so regrettably you will not be able to use it this mission, but it is still fun to try." He showed them and odd looking contraption, which resembled a giant gun, but with a very wide barrel and when Diana got a better look at it, she saw that within the large barrel, were the barrels of many smaller guns.

Not noticing her brother move over to the machine, she turned to Carl and asked him, "What in the blazes does that…" and her words were lost when Van Helsing began shooting it, apparently having figured out how to work it. The noise was deafening and if she had been any other woman she'd have screamed, but she wasn't, so she just turned to her brother to give him a scolding glare. Surprise was evident on her face when she saw the metal block, which had been put on a stool at the other end of the room to test how strong the gun was, was filled up with several holes, making it look like gray Swiss cheese. Looking back at Carl she said "When can you lend me one of _those_?!" All Gabriel could do was chuckle, an amused look on his face. "Diana, I'll get you one for your birthday if you wish. I'm not so sure Cardinal Jinette would feel comfortable with you wreaking havoc with a machine gun though." he said, already giving the device a name. "Dang Jinette's comfort levels!! I want one anyway!" she replied laughing.

Once Gabriel's things were packed, Cardinal Jinette motioned for them to come over, clearly done with setting up the presentation. The three walked over to him and stood before a screen waiting for the cardinal to start the slide show. "On this mission, you will be going after the infamous Count Dracula, or Vlad Tepes, Vlad the Impaler, or whatever you know him by." he said. They watched the pictures come up on the screen, first showing the beginning of the vampiric race, then showing several other random pictures of demonic folklore. None of the group was even listening to Jinette drone on and on about God knew what. They just continued half listening until the cardinal began speaking about the Valerious line and what their ancestors had to do with Dracula. He put on pictures of the current family. "This is a picture of Boris Valerious, King of the Gypsies," Jinette went on, "He has supposedly gone missing over the past year with his team that went out searching for Dracula and no one knows where he is. This is Prince Velkan, current heir to the throne and he's been taking care of present affairs since his father's absence," the cardinal changed the screen to a different picture, one of a young woman "and this is Princess Anna." Diana turned to look at her brother to see his reaction, and caught him staring at the photo with something akin to awe, and she instantly knew that he was taken by her. _Well, Gabriel is in for a hell of a mission._

_

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_(A/N: Thoughts will be in italics. It should be obvious who is thinking them, but if not, I will usually say.)


	2. Chapter 1 edited

A peaceful quiet except for the soothing chants of monks hung like a velvet curtain on the massive courtyard; a velvet curtain that was rudely torn down by the heavy thudding belonging to thick soled boots and the sharp but awkwardly paced clacking of high-heeled shoes on the sun warmed stone floor. The calming chants were soon replaced by the loud arguing of a male and female.

"I have no idea _why_ I agreed to this... Gabriel, I changed my mind. I know! Let's go back to the city and I will buy you five of those tiny pastries covered in honey and sugar that you love so much!"

The petite female futilely began making stronger attempts to go in the opposite direction the arm, that seemed to be welded to her wrist, was dragging her in. A large burly man, to whom the arm belonged, rolled his dark brown eyes before choosing to reply.

"Tempting, but _someone_ has to tell Cardinal Jinette that the stained glass window of Notre Dame was shattered, and it sure as hell isn't going to be me. I am _not_ covering for you again, Diana. The last time I did I had to endure an hour and a half lecture of tedious rants I have heard five hundred times, at _least_! You aren't even supposed to be with me when I'm on a mission. How _do_ you manage to find me, anyway?"

"First of all, aren't you a 'Man of God'? You aren't supposed to use profanity. That's _my_ job. Second of all, _you_ were the person yelling at me to shoot Hyde with the God forsaken grappling hook! Also, I have endured that same lecture from both the Cardinal _and_ you more than five hundred times each! And as for how I find you… I have my sources. Now let me the hell go!"

The struggling that had all but ceased during their conversation redoubled when Diana realized the imposing doors of the Vatican were no more than fifty paces away. It appeared to be useless, but she couldn't help but hope. Gabriel, on the other hand, was trying to keep up the façade that her struggles were not affecting his pull at all, when in fact Diana had almost broken free several times. It was quickly starting to irritate him.

"Diana, if you don't stop struggling I'm going to throw you on my shoulder instead of dragging you!" He made a low grunt when she responded with a punch from her free arm to his shoulder. "Fine!" It took minimal effort to hoist her over his shoulder so that she was facing his lower back, and it took her three seconds to realize that he had carried out his threat and to make an outraged shriek. Then the thrashing started, and Gabriel almost dropped her as the strength of it had caught him off guard. As soon as he made it into the shade of the huge basilica, he unceremoniously dropped his burden on the cool stones.

"You know, I am pretty sure that dumping a woman on the floor of the Vatican qualifies as a sin." Still sprawled out where she had been dropped, Diana rubbed the forming bump on the back of her skull while glaring at Gabriel with piercing green eyes.

"I'll ask Jinette to pray for my apparently damned soul. Now get up. You've made us late!" Not waiting for her to comply, he roughly pulled her up by the shoulder and began directing her to one of the confessionals on the left side of the Vatican.

She had evidently reloaded her eyes with venom as she was being manhandled, because when she looked over her shoulder to continue glaring, Gabriel briefly feared for his safety. "I loathe you."

Deciding to put up a brave front, he simply chuckled and patted her head patronizingly. "I am sure you do. Now get in." He opened the door to the booth and made a sweeping motion with his arm toward the small room inside. "Ladies first."

This only served to anger her more, and it was plainly visible for a split second, before all signs of previous rage were replaced with cool indifference. "Then why are you looking at _me _Gabriel? Go ahead." She made her own sweeping motion toward the door, only she mockingly fluttered her thick lashes at him while doing so.

The small smirk that had wormed its' way onto Gabriel's face vanished immediately and reappeared on Diana's. "Just get in! I'm not stupid enough to believe you won't make a break for it." She simply made a face at him.

"I'm disappointed Gabe. You don't _trust_ me?" She batted her eyelashes 'innocently' at him.

"I trust you about as much you feel the urge to shower Carl in kisses." That comment earned him a disgusted look, replaced by one of defeat before she climbed into the confessional, with him following right after.

Once inside, they were instantly overcome by an extreme feeling of claustrophobia, especially when Gabriel closed the curtain. Since the booths were intended to house one person on each side of the thin wall, Gabriel and Diana were wrestling each other for space.

Gabriel decided that he'd had enough moving around, so he plopped himself down on the small cushioned stool intended for kneeling. "Stop wiggling! You're just making the both of us more uncomfortable!" The squirming female ignored him though, so he acted instead of waiting. "Okay, you know what?" He didn't say anything else. Instead, he grabbed Diana's hips and pulled her down so that she landed in his lap.

Before she had a chance to say or do anything to Gabriel in retaliation, a small portion of the thin wall between the two rooms of the booth slid open, leaving a diamond fenced wooden screen.

The figure on the other side was robed in deep red, and the harsh tone that suddenly rang out in the heavy silence was made more menacing by the glare that was sent through it. "Are you two quite finished? Or do you wish to continue cracking the walls of this sacred space intended for the repentance of sinners?" They could see him arch his eyebrows at them through the screen, daring them to answer him. "Very well. Now then, to the first order of business: Gabriel, I though you were coming alone. Why is that _woman_ here?"

Diana, who didn't want to give Jinette a chance to shoot barbs at her, decided to interrupt. "So _nice_ to see you too Cardinal Jinette. I am perfectly fine, thank you for asking." The sarcasm in her greeting was palpable.

Gabriel could sense the tension rising in the tiny booth, and knew that if he didn't do something soon a bomb would explode and it would leave nothing but a smoking crater behind. "Well Diana is here to _thoroughly_ apologize, because she was the one who shattered the Rose Window of Notre Dame."

It appeared that his attempted defusing didn't go as planned, because Jinette's dark eyes narrowed and snapped to Diana's vibrant green ones and he began to yell. "Get that creature out of this holy place! Vile sinner! Be gone!"

Diana had kept an indifferent look on her face throughout his reaction. "But Cardinal, I thought this was _intended_ for sinners." That turned out to be the wrong thing to say.

To make his anger more visible to the two, he lowered the screen so as to not have the booth separated at all. "And so it is! But it is meant for those sinners who wish to _repent_! Gabriel, so help me God, if you do not remove this abomination from my sight, I shall have her forcibly escorted out!"

"Hey, I didn't want to be here anyway, and have been manhandled enough today to last a lifetime. So if you'll excuse me, I will be on my way." Diana picked herself up from Gabriel's lap, where she had remained after the Cardinal showed himself, and made to leave. Before she could, a gate suddenly slammed across the exit. She slowly turned to face Jinette, a look of death in her eyes, and he simply gazed back at her with a surprisingly sinister smile that you wouldn't expect to see on the man.

"You will apologize before you go."

Her lips shaped into a snarl. "Of course! And then I will go off and tell the Son of the Devil I love him."

"Come on Diana! Please. Do it for me."

She made a loud groan of annoyance. "Fine." She turned toward the Cardinal. "I am sorry for breaking your precious ancient window."

"Thirteenth century! Over six hundred years old! I wish you a week in Hell for that." Even though he was obviously still angry, he had cooled down a massive amount.

"Then you should be happy, because I'd probably enjoy it more than being in your presence for five minutes."

"Let's go down to the lab. I want to see what Carl's been up to." Gabriel had started to feel exceedingly awkward listening to them bicker.

"You wish to bring a woman down there? She is corrupted enough!"

"I do not mean to offend, Cardinal, but do you honestly believe she hasn't already been down there?"

The Cardinal allowed a defeated look flash briefly across his face. "No, I do not. How did she find out anyway?" Mildly interested, he half listened while pulling the lever to show the entrance to the lab.

"I found out seventeen years ago. I heard these two whispering about it, and after having no success with questioning them, I tailed them and saw them use the lever."

"I was not speaking to you."

Diana rolled her eyes at him. "You think I care?"

By this time, they had already descended into the underground laboratory, and everything, as per the norm, was chaotic.

The Cardinal walked them over to a separate place where he had set an elaborate slideshow presentation. _Goody. Time to watch some fancy pictures._


End file.
